Mid March will see James Bates finish as Operations Manager of the TML:

It was over 10 years ago that a young James Bates first came to our attention. This mid-field dynamo (his words not mine!) who’s sliding tackles from over 10 yards would often start before a player even knew he was getting the ball, was teaching English out in the boonies dreaming of working in the Tokyo international football scene. When Pete Swinney announced his departure, James was straight in there, begging to take on the biggest role in International Amatuer Football in Japan. Having run the league for years myself, I wondered how this farm boy from Suffolk, who is never shy of advertising his family business ‘Rushbanks Farm Campsite’ (the only best campsite I’ve ever stayed in), would handle the pressures of organizing over 200 matches & 6~8 tournaments a year. With 30 different captains of different nationalities/characters/temperaments to organise on a weekly basis and a dozen referees to also keep happy, it can be a very trying experience.  

James, I must say, handled it all magnificently. We will be sorry to lose such a great asset to Footy Japan, not only a great operations manager who brought the whole office staff together as a happy team but also a very good, popular coach in our British Football Academy. OK so he wasn’t much bigger than some of the kids he coached but they really enjoyed having him there.

We wish James all the best in the future and look forward to going & visiting him again at  Rushbanks Farm Campsite. (oops, slipped it in there again!!)

Well over to the big (not literally) man himself, take it away James…...

"As some of you are aware I will be leaving my role as Operations Manager in mid March and heading back to England to help run the family business.

Running the TML is a unique job and often people tell me ‘wow, what a cool job.’ Yes, they are correct but I thought I would share with you some of my experiences I have faced over the the last 7 seasons.

'Banned for 18 months for attempting a karate kick towards an oppositions players head’, this was the first email I received from Sid when arriving back in Tokyo in August 2011, a day before I entered the TML office to start my new job.

Sid was replying to an email I sent him saying I had met a lovely man at Heathrow who played in the league. We had both been bumped off our BA flight as it was overbooked and spent about 3 hours enjoying the BA compensation money in the Weatherspoons pub. Surprisingly he never mentioned the kick to me but I’m sure it was on his mind while I was busy talking about how eager I was to start running the league!

 Almost 8 years on and I still remember my opening weeks in the office like it was yesterday. Peter Swinney trained me up well and left me on my own a full 2 days before the season started.

 The night before the opening weekend I went out for a few beers in Shibuya. Around 10pm, my phone rang, it was Maeda san (Zion FC) asking why I was not using a ground that he had booked for tomorrow's game. Somehow during my training period his email had been filed away. It was a sign of things to come in terms of getting contacted at all times of the day.

 When I started the job I lived in Kumagaya, the commute was nearly 2 hours each way so I was always looking forward to relaxing at weekends. The weather made this impossible for me during those early months. It rained every weekend throughout October and November. Not really knowing the pitches as well as I do now, many an hour went by when I would just be staring outside looking at the rain trying to think of what to do…..To cancel or not to cancel? I would be lying if I said I still don’t do this now.

Rainy weekends are by far the worst part of the job. Having to decide which pitches will handle the forecasted rainfall and which won’t is tough especially when Captains are contacting you, one may be up for playing and another trying to push for it to be canceled. Some ground staff are helpful and will actually look at the ground and give their opinion while others won’t even venture outside to check the pitch when calling for advice. So a decision needs to be made. Usually when I know it’s a wet weekend I will cancel any plans and stay home to work, other times I have cancelled matches while on my way to a wedding and even canceled games while heading on a trip on the Shinkansen.

I am not a fan of mobile phone ringtones. Monday to Friday evening my phone is on silent so come Friday night I switch my iphone to loud and pray that I do not hear it ring over the weekend. When it does ring it feels me with fear…’What’s happened?, What have I done wrong?’, half the time the calls are from my good friend Ginger Iain, the other half are work calls. Could be from a referee informing me that he is running late, if it’s not then it’s from a Captain asking where the referee is? Sometimes it’s from a Captain saying they need to forfeit due to a lack of players. Lightning, injuries, fights….So many calls over the years!

 Time to move on to the dreaded text messages. The amount of times I have woken up to hear my wife asking “Who the F#¢K texted you in the middle of the night”? Recently I had a text at 00:45, earliest one was at 5am asking if a 10am KO will be on. Also had a player mail me with abuse about scheduling well into the early hours.

 My sayonara report is sounding more like a rant so let’s look at the positive side of the job. Do I get a buzz when I switch my phone back to silent on a Sunday night after a perfectly organized TML weekend?….Yes. When I think that per season I help over 1000 people from the age of 5 to 55 play competitive football, it makes me happy. Football is the people's game and when tournaments and seasons go well it is very rewarding.

 Under my reign the TML saw its first season when all matches were played on Aartificial turf, those Oi Futo dirt games are now a thing of the past. For 3 seasons I ran the  ‘The ‘International Junior League’ (IJL), a league for U10 & U12 teams. Sadly due to pitch restrictions it finished in 2017. This season I arranged the inaugural TML Masters League . I really hope this will evolve over the coming seasons. If not you may see Sid starting up a walking football league up in a few years time!

I’ve always loved Football and it was always my dream to work in the industry and this job has given me the chance to do that. As well as running the league I also coach twice a week. It’s been great being able to get out the office and teach the kids in the British Football Academy. I coach on a Friday afternoon and always treat the session like it’s a double PE lesson on Friday at school. Time to play football and have fun.

321 games a season needs to be played, more are scheduled due to cancellations. It’s tough not having a regular home pitch but for the last 16 years the TML has survived and long may it do so.

 I would like to thanks Sid and Paco for having faith in me all those years ago and hiring me. Working for Footy Japan has been a great experience. It’s made me develop as a person and also tested me to my limits on occasions but I am somehow still here and ready for my next challenge.

So many other people to thank, Coach Dave for his excellent choice of Tuesday lunch spots, Coach Simon for letting me chat about Sudbury Towns great FA Cup shock win over his beloved Brighton in 1996. A shout out to all the BFA Part time coaches I have worked with. Also Choco, Hisako, Ryota and now Ryosuke who I have worked alongside. Also to my wife Momoko for having to put up with me moaning about work,/weather and also helping me out on the rainy weekends!

Most importantly thank you to the referees. Without them there are no TML games. Before I started the job, I was a player and Captain who would give my opinion to the referee but that has changed over the years. No need, having refereed 5 TML matches it is a tough job and also a lonely job. Feel free to contact Toma if you think you can do a better job than our dedicated referees.

Lastly let me wish Toma good luck in being the TML’s top dog. I believe he will do a great job in replacing me and can steer the league to bigger and better things.

Thank you to you all,"

James Bates